The Law’s Guilty Verdict for All Mankind

Guilty Verdict

(Romans 3:19-21)

It is we, human beings, who are swept along by a raging current toward destruction—and yet remain utterly unaware of the peril closing in around us. When God reveals the reality of this crisis, we must listen, even when what He says is difficult to hear.

1. The Guilty Verdict
The reality God has disclosed is this: a guilty verdict has been pronounced against humanity in the heavenly court. But is this verdict irrelevant to us Gentiles, since it is grounded in the Law—a Law given to the Jews? Not at all. God has placed a conscience within every Gentile heart, enabling them to do the work of the law. Every tongue that would make excuses must fall silent, and every knee must bow before the judgment of God.

2. The Exposure of Sin
Could there perhaps be one or two who have kept the law perfectly? Scripture cuts down such thinking with a single stroke. Since Adam, human beings may appear outwardly respectable, but their very foundation is thoroughly self-centered—lacking even the desire to do good. The law lays bare every hidden sin. Standing before it, a person is forced to confront the full weight of their guilt, and to acknowledge that hell is their only destiny.

3. The Great Reversal
On the threshold of eternal punishment, all a person could do was stand in silent dread. But now, things are different. Into a darkness where no hope could be seen, a light of salvation has begun to shine—entirely apart from anything we have done. Not because of anything in us, but solely out of His own merciful nature, God gave His beloved Son for sinners. He is Jesus Christ—more precious than our own lives, and even more precious than our very eternal existence! Let us lay down our worthless human righteousness and acknowledge His grace. Let us never betray His love. Let us proclaim His love, praise Him, and give Him all the glory.

Overseer Sung-Hyun Kim